We would love to hear your thoughts about our site and services, please take our survey here.
London South East prides itself on its community spirit, and in order to keep the chat section problem free, we ask all members to follow these simple rules. In these rules, we refer to ourselves as "we", "us", "our". The user of the website is referred to as "you" and "your".
By posting on our share chat boards you are agreeing to the following:
The IP address of all posts is recorded to aid in enforcing these conditions. As a user you agree to any information you have entered being stored in a database. You agree that we have the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic or board at any time should we see fit. You agree that we have the right to remove any post without notice. You agree that we have the right to suspend your account without notice.
Please note some users may not behave properly and may post content that is misleading, untrue or offensive.
It is not possible for us to fully monitor all content all of the time but where we have actually received notice of any content that is potentially misleading, untrue, offensive, unlawful, infringes third party rights or is potentially in breach of these terms and conditions, then we will review such content, decide whether to remove it from this website and act accordingly.
Premium Members are members that have a premium subscription with London South East. You can subscribe here.
London South East does not endorse such members, and posts should not be construed as advice and represent the opinions of the authors, not those of London South East Ltd, or its affiliates.
Taken from the RNS:
In light of this, the Board will be assessing all options with a view to maximising value for its stakeholders and will provide an update on next steps at the interim results on the 8th December.
Now, this could be read as being singular to the Education division or is it a wider ‘Strategic Review’.
The latter would not be a surprise given the lacklustre SP despite excellent trading. Lombard Odier topping up and possibly our largest shareholder getting twitchy and more vocal over the former particularly given how he pushed for the disposal?
Food for thought and noticeably, the SP has responded positively to what can only be seen as negative news.
Interesting times.
Disappointing outcome but not unexpected. Despite this setback I think November could be a very good month for Studio if the results from the previous lockdown are anything to go by. I’m looking forward to the half year results in December.
The SP has stayed strong despite the negative news to date on Education, which is reassuring. The clock is winding down as to how this is going to play out so we will know where we are shortly.
In the meantime Lombard has increased their shareholding. If we go into harsher lockdown, given previous consumer behaviour, we could benefit strongly and quickly.
Hopefully given their trading figures, the SP will look so low, the market or a predator willing to make a sensible offer to recognise its fair value will be forthcoming
An interesting theory Ejackson. I can’t think of another company in the market currently that could or would pay £50m for a company with thin profit margins. Happy to be proved wrong though.
Today’s news is disappointing and I would like to think the Board have explored a Plan B in the event they cannot conclude the sale to YPO particularly with how much time has lapsed since the announcement.
Given the direction of travel in the retail industry towards Online and the strength of recent M&A activity , I would like to think that there would be an alternative buyer waiting in the wings that won’t have the same Competition issues the CMA are raising.
Oh dear, todays announcement by the CMA would seem to place an insurmountable block on the sale. Having read the report, I can’t see a compromise plan that would adequately satisfy the CMA.
Hello to you again Skindle.
Investment wise it’s been ok, thank you with only one major switch out of Savills (lth) into S4 Capital to follow Martin Sorrell’s own money. So far so good and I know how many false dawns there have been here but can’t help but believe the company has made huge strides in the right direction however the SP has not responded as it should.
A quick look at today and it just underlines my thinking. The sale of Education is now key to releasing the handbrake as The Board have already identified how the proceeds will be distributed which all bodes well for future and further aggressive growth whilst being almost certainly, if not almost entirely debt free.
Quite compelling given the current and future shape of shopping and reassuringly, that The Board (quietly being strengthened in recent months) are aligned to this and receptive to future trends.
The only fly in my ointment is MA as, frankly, no-one knows what his agenda is, otherwise the numbers look very impressive and I am mulling topping up further whilst there is a disconnect between my view and the market.
Hello Ejackson, I hope you are well and your investments are positive. This is a very good trading statement despite difficult conditions. Huge credit to the board for managing to continue day to day business and producing a significant uplift in revenue and profit before tax. I have not reinvested since the sale of my shares in March but am planning to reinvest in anticipation of the Education sale. I wish Columbo and 1GW_ and you Ejackson all the best in the coming weeks and months.
Reads very well indeed.
Hopefully we will have resolution to Education soon and the extension to the timeline that has been agreed by both parties is positive sentiment towards a deal being concluded. Also encouraging to see trading there has returned to previous levels.
All in all a very positive TU and here’s now hoping the SP will respond accordingly and start to recognise the full potential of the company.
yesterday after results. Bit of a mess I thought. Pensions? No divi since 2009. Strange "Estimated COVID-19 bad debt impact" of £20 million as Paul Scott highlights.
So sold for a small profit. On watch for lower.
Solid reporting and not much we didn’t already know. As Philip Maudsley said FY20 feels a world away.
Current trading is very strong and with all the media referencing the retail sector, and in particular online retailing doing exceptionally well, I believe we can look forward with confidence as to how Studio will perform for FY21.
No commentary on progress or otherwise at Education so it would be good to see an RNS on this and if positive, the SP will really move up. I noted Edison guiding us to next Calendar year in this regard which would be disappointing but they do seem to enjoy an inside line at Studio, so I am managing my expectations accordingly.
All things considered though, the current SP looks far too low given our offering and how the company is completely in tune with current and future buying habits.
Total group revenue* of £514.8m, up 2.2% (FY19 restated**: £503.7m)
· Revenue from continuing operations of £434.9m, up 3.1% (FY19 restated**: £421.7m)
· Adjusted operating profit* for the total group measured on a constant-GAAP basis up by 3.9% to £39.9m
Also feeling positive about full results this year. Hopefully see Findel Education sold to YPO, this unit has always been a bit of a drag on the operation and will be pleased to see the focus on Studio.
Despite the ups and downs of this company it has been surprisingly resilient and I think has turned a corner. Hopefully the FYR show that.
Morning all.
With the above due in the second half of August, I am hoping for some positive news with regards to the sale of Education. Fingers firmly crossed that the CMA’s concerns have been allayed and we can proceed at the agreed HOT.
Notwithstanding the above, I was looking at the recent RNS’s and it is quite possible that we might be close to becoming debt free which would be an incredible achievement and I think fair to say, none of us would have predicted a couple of years back.
Should Education also go through, we would have some serious financial leverage to put towards working capital which when considered alongside the fact that we have now surpassed 2m value seeking customers, leaves us in very strong position going forward.
I am also sure this will have been influential in the change of leadership and Philip Maudsley can move on with his head held high and pat himself on the back for a job well done.
All in all, whilst fully aware of the wider economic woes, good etailers are thriving and I see SRG well placed to follow suit.
I am hopeful for a positive update on all fronts and the SP responding accordingly.....Now wouldn’t that be nice and for us LTH’s a welcome and long overdue relief!
Closing at highs it seems
Must say I like this and have seen the advert for their website. Bought myself today and see these moving quickly to 3 pound plus.
Mandraj, if you check the execution price of the buys orders going through, the spread is much narrower.
I am not invested but am impressed by the core debt reduction and the product sales increase over the first eleven weeks of the new trading year. I too am tempted to reinvest but as Manraj said that spread is very large. It’s disappointing that we have to wait until the second half of August for the final results.
Tempted to buy but the spread is too wide.
A very reassuring update when taking stock of the current climate.
Some particularly strong positives with the balance of disappointment surrounding the Phase 2 referral by the CMA which having done a quick read up on the inner workings of, I believe could extend the final decision by a further 25 weeks.
The Board come across as having a good steady hand on the tiller and our offering is now reaching out to over 2m customers which is a significant milestone and bodes well for Christmas trading.
Despite the obvious wider concerns, the UK’s appetite to shop has been well chronicled in recent days and future for STU looks in good hands and set to blossom.
Well done to those who stayed in. The market initial reaction seems to value the very positive news on online trading more than to fear the problems with the education sale and the outlook for bad debt.
Today’s TU was about as good as could be expected.
My main concern is over Education going through and it looks like it might go down to the wire.
In the meantime, you only need to look at NBrown to appreciate how well our SP has held up.
I completely understand your thinking 1GW as it is difficult to envisage any meaningful uplift from where we are today although the market seems to have warmed to the last two RNS and clearly knew what was coming with the associated rise beforehand.
I will ride this one out as I still believe in where it’s heading and leave it to you, 1GW, to carry on making the clever ‘in or out’ decisions!
I've taken a safety-first approach and sold out for now. The TU described a situation broadly as I had anticipated I think in terms of digital retailer benefit and bad debt risk. However, I read it as flagging up a potentially significant hit on bad debt and I am concerned that they could end up in trouble on the Education sale - they have furloughed the majority of non-warehouse Education staff but with demand down so much during the school closure period the business will still be a drain on resources I think. And if the furlough scheme ends before demand picks up then they potentially face a gap between then and demand picking up - but probably need to retain staff so that the sale of Education can complete. And then I can't help feeling the buyers might try to renegotiate or escape even if the CMA approves the deal before the backstop date.
The position of Frasers is interesting as well. The closure of their shops during the lockdown and the prospect of relatively poor performance post-lockdown due to continued social distancing requirements might make acquisition of Studio's online capability more attractive to them - but on the other hand might they not want to realise the cash from the Studio investment to support their core business?
Finally, a trading statement. Quite upbeat given the circumstances.
Well, at least the board of directors are still meeting, (at a distance of two metres) which provides some comfort. August 2020 would seem somewhat optimistic for the completion of the sale of Findel Education given the CMA has taken over four months to enter phase one of the approval process. I am disappointed that the board has chosen not to update the market further as to trading. Why not ?